John Thomas Rose

multimedia journalist

Troung Thi Tuyet Hong tends to the fire outside her home in Thu Thiem Ward, District 2 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Within one year the area will be cleared to construct a new city center, forcing the residents to relocate.

Since the death of her husband in 1980, Troung Thi Tuyet Hong has been practicing Buddhism in his honor. It was shortly after his death that she moved to District 2.

Truong Thi Tuyet Hong kisses her grandson Nguyen Tuan Minh Dat, “Ben,” 3, outside her home in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Ben spends his day with his grandmother while his parents work in the city.

Hong uses the restroom in her small three-room home to wash clothes and dishes.

With no facilities in the condemned district, Hong spends her days doing rural chores in an urban setting.

Hong lives alone in her home but her immediate family populates the neighborhood. Dang Thi-Kim Cue, her sister keeps her company during the rain.

Along with Cue and some of the other neighbors, Hong knows they will be forced from their homes, but they’re not sure when.

Local fishermen check out the days catch from District 2, directly across the river from the busy financial district.

Workers demolish an abandoned building with sledgehammers in District 2 of Ho Chi Minh City. The district is being cleared to make a new city center as Ho Chi Minh City continues to grow.

The family keeps their cafe open into the evening, as many of its clients are the construction workers who are clearing the neighborhood. Many of the workers themselves are residents of District 2. The café used to be along the riverside, but it was one of the first buildings destroyed.

Hong sits by the river with her sisters at the end of the day. Newly built Bitexco Financial Tower is the tallest building in Vietnam and serves as a constant reminder of what’s to come of District 2.

Truong Thi Tuyet Hong reads the days lottery numbers while her grandson, Nguyen Tuan Minh Dat, “Ben”, 3 years old, receives a kiss from the neighbor and his mother builds a fire at the end of the day. The fire is where the family spends their evening together as it wards off disease spreading mosquitos.

Seated on a bench that used to serve customers of her riverside café, Truong Thi Tuyet Hong smokes a cigarette while recalling her neighborhood before it was subject to imminent domain in Thu Thiem Ward, District 2, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.